Context: The Union Cabinet has approved the production-linked incentive(PLI) scheme for the telecom sector.

About the production-linked incentive(PLI) scheme for the telecom Sector

• Aim of the scheme: It will make India a global hub for manufacturing telecom equipment. Moreover, it will create jobs and reduce imports especially from China.
• Focus of the scheme: The scheme will offset the huge import of telecom equipment worth more than Rs 50,000 crore. By that, it will encourage the foreign manufacturers and domestic manufacturers to set up production units in India.  

Coverage: The scheme will cover domestic manufacturing of equipment such as

• core transmission equipment,
• 4G/5G and next-generation radio access network and wireless equipment,
• Internet of Things (IoT) access devices,
• enterprise equipment such as switches and routers

Duration of the Scheme: The scheme will be operational from April 1 and will run for the next five years.
Eligibility: The eligibility for the scheme will be subject to;

• Achieving a minimum threshold of cumulative investment
• incremental sales of manufactured goods, with 2019-20 as the base year.

Incentives: For the inclusion of MSMEs in the scheme, the minimum investment threshold has been kept at Rs 10 crores while for others it is Rs 100 crore. Further, for MSMEs, It proposes a 1% higher incentive in the first three years.
Significance of the scheme

• The Government Schemes may lead to an incremental production of about Rs 2.4 lakh crore with exports of about Rs 2 lakh crore over five years. Moreover, it may bring in investments of more than Rs 3,000 crores.
• With the inclusion of telecom equipment manufacturing under the ambit of PLI schemes, the total number of sectors under such programmes stands at 13.

Benefits

• It will make Indian manufacturers globally competitive
• Attract investment in the areas of core competency and cutting-edge technology
• Ensure efficiencies
• Create economies of scale
• Enhance exports
• Make India an integral part of the global supply chain

Context: Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was recently appointed as the first female and first African head of the World Trade Organization.
About World Trade Organization (WTO)

• It is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations. 
• The WTO was instituted on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, 1948).
• The GATT mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements also cover trade in services and intellectual property. The birth of the WTO also created new procedures for the settlement of disputes.
• It is the largest international economic organization in the world.

Members

• It includes 164 members and 25 observer governments since 29 July 2016, with dates of WTO membership.
• The International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO is a joint subsidiary organ of the WTO.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have observer status in WTO bodies as provided for in their respective Agreements with the WTO.

Functions
Trade negotiations

• The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. 
• They include individual countries’ commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets. They set procedures for settling disputes. 

Implementation and monitoring

• WTO agreements require governments to make their trade policies transparent by notifying the WTO about laws in force and measures adopted.

Dispute settlement

• The WTO’s procedure for resolving trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and therefore for ensuring that trade flows smoothly. 

Building trade capacity

• Aid for Trade aims to help developing countries develop the skills and infrastructure needed to expand their trade.

Outreach

• The WTO maintains regular dialogue with non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public on various aspects of the WTO, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and increasing awareness of WTO activities.

Organizational Structure

• The highest authority of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which must meet at least every two years.

In between each Ministerial Conference, the daily work is handled by three bodies

1. The General Council (highest decision-making body)
2. The Dispute Settlement Body
3. The Trade Policy Review Body

All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole, either by ministers (who usually meet at least once every two years) or by their ambassadors or delegates (who meet regularly in Geneva).

• The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves case-specific panels appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), the Appellate Body, The Director-General and the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, and advisory experts.

Agreements of WTO

• Agreement on Agriculture
• General Agreement on Trade in Services
• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights 
• Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
• Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade 
• Agreement on Customs Valuation

Context: According to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis of IQAir data from a live Cost Estimator and uses live air quality data collected by IQAir, PM2.5 air pollution claimed approximately 54,000 lives in India’s national capital in 2020.

• Note: A cost estimator is an online tool that tracks the real-time health impact and economic costs of air pollution in major world cities. 

Six Indian cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Lucknow — feature in the global analysis.

Key Findings

• Globally, approximate 160,000 deaths have been attributed to PM2.5 air pollution in the five most populous cities. 
• Five most populous cities — Delhi (India), Mexico City (Mexico), São Paulo (Brazil), Shanghai (China) and Tokyo (Japan).
• An estimated 25,000 avoidable deaths in Mumbai in 2020 have been attributed to air pollution.
• Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad estimated an approximate 12,000, 11,000, and 11,000 avoidable deaths respectively due to polluted air.
• To show the impact of air pollution related deaths on the economy, the approach used by Greenpeace is called “willingness-to-pay”, a lost life year or a year lived with disability is converted to money by the amount that people are willing to pay in order to avoid this negative outcome.

Indicators Used in Measurement
PM 2.5 Measurements

• Real-time ground-level PM 2.5 measurements were collected from different places and combined together in IQAir’s database.
• IQAir is an air quality technology company.
• Using Algorithms, such data was applied to scientific risk models in combination with population and public health data to estimate the health and economic costs of air pollution exposure.

Willingness To Pay: To show the impact of air pollution-related deaths on the economy, the approach used by Greenpeace is called ‘willingness-to-pay’ — a lost life year or a year lived with disability is converted to money by the amount that people are willing to pay in order to avoid this negative outcome.

Cost Estimator: The ‘Cost Estimator’, an online tool that estimates the real-time health impact and economic cost from fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) air pollution in major world cities, was deployed in a collaboration between Greenpeace Southeast Asia, IQAir and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Computing the “Lost Years”

• To show the impact of air pollution-related deaths on the economy, the approach used by Greenpeace is called ‘willingness-to-pay.
• It refers to a lost life year or a year lived with a disability is converted to money by the amount that people are willing to pay in order to avoid this negative outcome.

?Greenpeace recommends

• Despite a temporary reprieve in air quality owing to the lockdown, the latest figures from the report underscore the need to act immediately.
• The need of the hour is to rapidly scale up renewable energy, bring an end to fossil fuel emissions and boost sustainable and accessible transport systems.

Harmful effects of Air Pollution

• Heart disease, lungcancer, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema, long-term damage to people's nerves, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs. Some scientists suspect air pollutants cause birth defects.

International measures

• United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
• Paris Deal
• Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air-Pollution 
• Sulphur Emissions Reduction Protocol
• Gothenburg protocol.

Remedial steps taken by government

• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB): statutory organisation was constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Further, CPCB was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
• NGT: established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection
• THE AIR (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT, 1981: enacted after India’s participation in United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in June, 1972
• National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): long-term, time-bound, nationallevel strategy to tackle the air pollution with targets to achieve 20% to 30% reduction in Particulate Matter concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year.
• National Air Quality Index: The measurement of air quality is based on eight pollutants, namely, Particulate Matter (size less than 10 µm) or (PM10), Particulate Matter (size less than 2.5 µm) or (PM5), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Ammonia (NH3), and Lead (Pb)
• Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) developed by CPCB. CPCB has done a nationwide environmental assessment of Industrial Clusters based on CEPI.

Context: Palaeontologists have discovered fossils of coelacanth, a giant fish that have been even around before the dinosaurs.

Key Highlights

• Coelacanths can grow as big as white sharks, which were thought to be extinct.
• It was composed of many thin bone plates rather than being a single structure, arranged like a barrel.
• The size of its lungs indicated that the fish could have been five metres long, much larger than the 2m-long coelacanths that still swim the seas.
• The fossil had been embedded in a block of phosphate, backed with plaster and covered in a coating of lacquer, which had caused the bones to turn brown.
• It was found next to a pterodactyl, which helped in determining the fossil's age.

About Coelacanths

• Coelacanths first evolved 400 million years ago; 200 million years before the first dinosaurs.
• It had long been believed to be extinct, but in 1938, a living coelacanth was found off South Africa.
• It is a primitive bony fish with lobed fins.
• Almost all its relatives were freshwater fossil forms dating from the Devonian period.
• It has remained almost unchanged from its ancestors in the lower Carboniferous period, that existed more than 300 million years ago.

Context: Government of India, in Budget 2021, has announced a National Hydrogen Mission to draw up a plan for using hydrogen as an energy source.
Background

• India has announced a National Hydrogen Mission after the United States Department of Energy announced an investment up to $100 million in hydrogen production and fuel cell technologies research and development.
• In October, Delhi became the first Indian city to operate buses running on hydrogen spiked compressed natural gas (H-CNG) in a six-month pilot project.
• The Power major NTPC Ltd is operating a pilot to run 10 hydrogen fuel cell-based electric buses and fuel cell electric cars in Leh and Delhi

About National Hydrogen Mission
Objective

• To lay down the Government of India’s vision, intent and direction for hydrogen energy and suggest strategies and approaches for realizing the vision.
• To develop India into a global hub for the manufacturing of hydrogen and fuel cells technologies across the value chain.
• The mission would put forward specific strategy for the short term (4 years), and broad strokes principles for the long term (10 years and beyond).

Major activities envisaged under the Mission include

• Creating volumes and infrastructure,
• Demonstrations in niche applications (including for transport, industry),
• Putting in place a robust framework for standards and regulations for hydrogen technologies.

Types of Hydrogen
The sources and processes by which hydrogen is derived, are categorised by colour tabs.

• Grey Hydrogen: Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels (bulk of the hydrogen produced today).
• Blue Hydrogen: Hydrogen generated from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage options.
• Green Hydrogen:  Hydrogen generated entirely from renewable power sources.

Electricity generated from renewable energy is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Significance of hydrogen fuel

• Hydrogen fuel cells are cleaner and more efficient than traditional combustion-based engines and power plants.
• Hydrogen and fuel cells can also be used in mobile applications to power vehicles and mobile power packs.

The benefits of fuel cells are

1. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
2. High Reliability
3. Flexibility in installation and operation
4. Development of renewable energy resources
5. Reduced demand for foreign oil
6. Improved environmental quality

Challenges of using hydrogen fuel
Storage capability

• When compared to fossil fueled vehicles, the weight and volume of hydrogen storage systems are presently too high.
• It will impact in the vehicle range capable of using hydrogen as fuel.

High flammability

• In the presence of oxygen, hydrogen can quickly catch fire; sometimes it can also lead to an explosion.
• The invisibility of Hydrogen is another concern because when it catches fire, the flames are very dim and hard to counter.

Liquid hydrogen

• Hydrogen is usually stored in the liquid form which is compressed at high pressure.
• The liquid hydrogen is extremely cold, and any leak from its storage tank can cause severe frostbite in the skin.

Key Facts

• Delhi became the first Indian city to operate buses running on hydrogen spiked compressed natural gas (H-CNG), in a six-month pilot project.
• H-CNG will consist 8 per cent hydrogen in CNG which is produced directly from natural gas, without resorting to conventional blending.

Why Hydrogen should be an option?

• India has made an uncharacteristically early entry in the race to tap the energy potential of the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen.
• Hydrogen’s potential as a clean fuel source has a history spanning nearly 150 years.
• Hydrogen exists only combined with other elements, and has to be extracted from naturally occurring compounds like water.
• Green Hydrogen is a clean burning molecule, which can decarbonise a range of sectors including iron and steel, chemicals, and transportation.

Challenges ahead of Hydrogen as Fuel

• Infrastructure Issues: The adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will face a lack of fuelling station infrastructure.
• There are fewer than 500 operational hydrogen stations in the world today, mostly in Europe, followed by Japan and South Korea.

Security Issue: Hydrogen is pressurised and stored in a cryogenic tank, from there it is fed to a lower-pressure cell and put through an electro-chemical reaction to generate electricity.

• The scaling up of the technology and achieving critical mass remains the big challenge.
• The challenge faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green or blue hydrogen.

Context: Recently, the Arbor Day Foundation and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation have recognised Hyderabad as 2020 Tree City of the World. The southern city is the only from India to get the recognition for its commitment to growing and maintaining the urban forest.
About Tree City of the World status Programme

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation have developed this programme.
• It is to celebrate greener cities and towns worldwide.
• The Tree Cities of the World programme is committed to inspiring cities and towns to care for and celebrate their urban tree canopy.

The evaluation is based on five standards

1. Establish Responsibility: the city must have a written statement by city leaders delegating responsibility for the care of trees within the municipal boundary to a staff member, a city department, or a group of citizens; 
2. Set the Rules: the city has in place a law or an official policy that governs the management of forests and trees; 
3. Know what you have: The city has an updated inventory or assessment of the local tree resource; 
4. Allocate the Resources: The city has a dedicated annual budget for the routine implementation of the tree management plan 
5. Celebrate Achievements: The city holds an annual celebration of trees to raise awareness. 

Why it is a great achievement?

• Hyderabad is the only city in the country to have been selected for this recognition in response to its commitment to growing and maintaining urban forestry.
• The recognition stands Hyderabad alongside 120 cities from 23 countries, including developed nations such as USA, UK, Canada, Australia and others.
• Hyderabad City is demonstrating leadership in management of its urban trees and is serving as part of the solution to many of the global issues we face today.
• This recognition is a testament to its sustained and institutional efforts to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees, development of urban and peri-urban forestry actions, projects, and strategic planning and commitment to building a healthy city now and for the future.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has rolled out the draft Blue Economy policy, inviting suggestions and inputs from various stake holders, which is in line with the Government of India’s Vision of New India by 2030.

Key Points

• The Draft Blue Economy Policy was created by the government outlining the vision and strategy that can be adapted to utilize the oceanic resources that are available to the country.
• The policy was drafted with the aim of enhancing the contribution of the blue economy to India’s GDP.
• It also seeks to improve the lives of coastal communities and preserve marine biodiversity.
• It will also maintain the national security of the marine areas and resources.

The draft blue economy document has recognized the seven thematic areas such as:

1. National accounting framework of the blue economy and ocean governance;
2. Coastal marine spatial planning and tourism;
3. Marine fisheries, fish processing, and Aquaculture
4. Manufacturing, services, trade, technology, and skill development;
5. Logistics, infrastructure, and shipping
6. Coastal & deep-sea mining and
7. Offshore energy & security, strategic dimensions, and international engagements.

Thus, the blue economy of India is a subset of the national economy that caters to the entire ocean resources system.

• The policy also caters to the human-made economic infrastructure in marine, maritime, and onshore coastal zones in India’s jurisdiction.
• The policy is also linked with the production of goods and services which is ultimately linked with economic growth, environmental sustainability, and national security.
• The draft policy also suggests offering the Blue Economy-related educational programs comprising of various technical and managerial skills in universities and technical institutes along with the coastal states of India.

Blue Economy

• The concept of the blue economy aspires to promote economic growth and social inclusion. It is also involved in the preservation or improvement of livelihoods.
• It also seeks to ensure environmental sustainability in the oceans and coastal areas.
• It comprises the sectors for which the returns are linked to living renewable resources in the oceans like fisheries.
• It also comprises the sectors whose return comes from non-living & non-renewable resources including seabed mining, dredging, and offshore oil & gas extractions.

Need for a Blue Economy Policy
Vast Coastline

• With a coastline of nearly 7.5 thousand kilometers, India has a unique maritime position.
• Nine of its 28 states are coastal, and the nation’s geography includes 1,382 islands.
• There are nearly 199 ports, including 12 major ports that handle approximately 1,400 million tons of cargo each year.

Utilisation of Non-living Resources

• India’s Exclusive Economic Zone of over 2 million square kilometers has a huge living and non-living resources with significant recoverable resources such as crude oil and natural gas.

Sustenance of Coastal Communities

• The coastal economy sustains over 4 million fisherfolk and coastal communities.

Context: New research by the Lancet Planetary Health Journal highlights the benefits to health if countries adopt to climate plans that are consistent with the aim of Paris Agreement.

About the findings
The study indicates that adopting policies that are consistent with achieving the Paris Agreement and prioritizing health could save:

• 6.4 million lives due to better diet
• 1.6 million lives due to cleaner air
• 2.1 million lives due to increased exercise.

The countries considered in the study represent 50 per cent of the world’s population and 70 per cent of the world’s emissions – Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK and the US.

Paris Agreement

• Paris Agreement is an international agreement to combat climate change reached on the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
• More than 190 nations meeting in Paris in December 2015 reached a landmark agreement to strengthen the global climate effort.
• The Paris Agreement commits countries to undertake “nationally determined contributions” and establishes mechanisms to hold them accountable and to strengthen ambition in the years ahead.

Objective

• Keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.
• Pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

Long Term Goal

• A long-term global goal for net zero emissions. Countries have promised to try to bring global emissions down from peak levels as soon as possible.
• More significantly, they pledged “to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century”.

Mechanism

• Before the conference started, more than 180 countries had submitted pledges to cut or curb their carbon emissions through Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
• The INDCs were recognized under the agreement, but are not legally binding.

Funding

• It stipulates that developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation. Other Parties are encouraged to provide or continue to provide such support voluntarily.

What are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

• Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are reductions or intended reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by a country under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through NDCs and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
• The National pledges by countries to cut emissions are voluntary and the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement will be assessed after 5 years.

India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)

• India’s INDC include a reduction in the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level.
• 40 per cent share of non-fossil fuel-based electricity by 2030.
• India has also pledged to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Context: Recently, six elephants died of Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS) in Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary located in Odisha’s Kalahandi district.

About Hemorrhagic Septicemia

• Hemorrhagic septicemia is a bacterial disease that mainly affects cattle and water buffalo.
• It is an important cause of livestock mortality in tropical regions of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
• The clinical signs usually progress rapidly from fever and depression to death, within hours to a few days.
• Young animals are mainly affected in endemic regions, and outbreaks are particularly common during rainy weather, when the organism can spread readily.
• Because the disease course is so short, few animals can be treated in time, and recovery is rare.

Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary

• Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Kalahandi district of Odisha.
• It lies within the Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests ecoregion.
• The sanctuary was first notified in 1969 by the conservator of Forest and was formally notified under the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972 in 1992.
• It is home to a plethora wildlife animals and birds such as leopard, gaur, sambar, nilgai, barking deer, mouse deer, soft claws Ottawa, a wide variety of birds and reptiles.
• The forest consists of flora like Sal, Bija, Asan, Harida, Amala, Bahada and Bamboo and varieties of medicinal plants.
• There are several small and big waterfalls inside the sanctuary like Phurlijharan, Ghusrigudi, Dumnijhola, Kamalajharan, Koyirupa, Kuang and Raja Rani.

Context: The farmers protest against newly enacted farm laws provides us an opportunity to compare India’s agricultural system with those present in other countries which have done exceptionally well.

Background

• All the three countries — India, China and Israel — started off their new political journey in late 1940s, but today China’s per capita income in dollar terms is almost five times that of India, and Israel’s almost 20 times higher than India.
• absolute poverty head count ratio at $1.9 per day (2011 purchasing power parity) definition was only 0.7 per cent in China as against 13.4 per cent in India in 2015

Problems with Indian Agri-Policies

• Indian agri-food policies remained more consumer-oriented with a view to “protect the poor”. In the process, they never allowed farmers to enjoy the best prices they could get from free markets within India or abroad.
• Export controls, stocking limits on traders, movement restrictions, etc all continued at the hint of any price rise.
• The net result of all this was farmers’ incomes remained low and so did those of landless agri-labourers.
• Today, Indian agriculture is saddled with more agri-labourers (55 per cent) than cultivators and are supported by huge subsidies, are in a low-level equilibrium trap of poverty.

Case Study of China

• Agri-output: China produces three times more agri-output than India from a smaller arable area.
• Similar case of fragmented landholding: The average holding size in China was just 0.9 ha in 2016-18, smaller than India’s 1.08 ha in 2015-16. Therefore, landholding size is not that big a hindrance for agri-growth.
• Early start of Reforms: China started off its economic reforms in 1978 by taking up agriculture first. It dismantled its commune system of land holdings and liberated agri-markets that allowed farmers to get much higher prices for their produce.
• Agri-growth: As a result of early reforms, in 1978-84, farmers’ incomes in China increased by almost 14 per cent per annum, more than doubling in six years. In India, the 1991 reforms bypassed agriculture. There was only some indirect effect when tariffs on manufactured goods were reduced.
• Foundation for manufacturing growth: Success of early agri-reform gave political legitimacy for further reforms as masses gained, and also generated demand for industrial goods, sowing the seeds of a manufacturing revolution in China
• Economic Contribution: Agriculture contributes just 8 per cent of overall GDP in China compared to about 17 per cent in India.
• Employment: About 26 per cent of China’s workforce is in agriculture, while India is still stuck with 42 per cent.

Case Study of Israel

• Water accounting: This has made it turn a desert into cultivating high-value crops for exports (citrus fruits, dates, olives) by using every drop of water and recycling urban waste water for agriculture, by de-salinisation of sea waters
• Depleting Groundwater table in India: It is so alarming in a state like Punjab where almost 80 per cent of blocks are over-exploited or critical, meaning the withdrawal of water is much more than the recharge.
• Until India breaks away from the policy of free power for agriculture, there would be no incentive for farmers to save water.

Road Ahead
Indian agriculture has the potential to double or even triple its output in the next 15-20 years. Many countries have done it and we can do it, too, provided our agri-food policy framework takes a dramatic turn,

• From being subsidy-led to investment-driven
• From being consumer-oriented to producer-oriented,
• From being supply-oriented to demand-driven by linking farms with factories and foreign markets
• From being business as usual to an innovations-centred system.

Context: The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) recently adopted next generation Blockchain and Cloud migration enabled GrapeNet System.

About GrapeNet

• It is a web-based certification and traceability software system for monitoring fresh grapes exported from India to the European Union.

Significance

• The cutting-edge cloud-based infrastructure will help to attain a secured, scalable and cost-effective interface for all the stakeholders in the exports value chain.
• APEDA can trace details of the consignment right upto the farm plot level.

After integration Blockchain, GrapeNet will

• Be more secure.
• Track all the activities and steps involved in the grape’s lifecycle process.
• Keep a record of all the processes involved which can be traced by the customers at the end of the chain to validate the authenticity of the grapes.
• Trace the grapes at any level.

About Blockchain

• Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
• The technology is ideal for delivering that information because it provides immediate, shared, and completely transparent information stored on an immutable ledger that can be accessed only by network members.

Context: Recently, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister launch India's first CNG tractor. It is basically a diesel tractor converted to CNG, jointly made by Rawmatt Techno Solutions and Tomasetto Achille India.
Key highlights

• The CNG tractors will be more environment-friendly than the diesel tractors.
• The CNG tractors will increase the savings of the farmers as CNG is cheaper than diesel.
• CNG is economical as it has no lead and is non-corrosive, non-dilutive and non-contaminating.

Benefits of converting a tractor to CNG

• The benefits of converting the tractor to CNG with respect to farmers are:
• This retrofitted CNG tractor produces more power or equal when compared to the diesel-run engine.
• The CNG tractor will reduce the overall emissions by 70 per cent as compared to the emission by the diesel tractors.
• CNG tractor would also help farmers to save up to 50 per cent of the fuel cost.

Significance of CNG

• CNG is a clean fuel. The carbon content in the CNG is the lowest among all the fuels. 
• It is economical because of zero lead in it. 
• Further, the fuel requires less regular maintenance.

Context: In an effort to enable tribals of Chhattisgarh to produce nutritious food year-long, the Government of Chhattisgarh, the Government of India and the World Bank inked a pact for a $100 million project to develop sustainable production systems in remote and tribal areas of Chhattisgarh.

Background

Chhattisgarh’s rich biodiversity and diverse agro-climatic zones provide an opportunity to focus on an alternative model of development allowing the tribal-dominated southern region to

• Leverage its natural resources,
• Diversify and grow resilient crops; and
• Assure a production system that takes care of the nutritional needs of every household.
• The project is part of the state government’s on-going efforts to build an inclusive development pathway for tribal communities, with special emphasis on the empowerment of tribal women.

About CHIRAAG Project

• It is a Chhattisgarh Inclusive Rural and Accelerated Agriculture Growth Project (CHIRAAG).
• It aims to develop sustainable production systems that allow tribal households in remote areas of Chhattisgarh to practice round-the-year production of diversified and nutritious food.
• It will be implemented in the southern tribal-majority region of the state where a large population is undernourished and poor.
• The project will benefit over 180,000 households from about 1,000 villages in eight districts of Chhattisgarh.

The CHIRAAG project in Chhattisgarh will

• Lay the foundation for a diverse and nutritive food and agriculture system;
• Mobilize smallholders into farmer producer organizations and
• Increase incomes by improving their access to profitable markets

Key Benefits

• “This project is part of the state government’s on-going efforts to build an inclusive development pathway for tribal communities, with special emphasis on the empowerment of tribal women".
• By focusing on diversifying cropping systems, enhancing nutrition, and encouraging investments in irrigation and post-harvest technology, the operation will support tribal communities through agricultural growth and increases in farmers’ incomes.”
• Further, the project will enable the stabilisation and restoration of the local food supply and production, secure livelihoods and expand income and job opportunities for people returning to their villages in pandemic-affected project areas.

Context: Icebergs are melting faster than current models describe, according to a new study at the University of Sydney. The researchers have proposed a new model to more accurately represent the melting speed of icebergs into oceans.

Background

• Today, several million icebergs are floating on the oceans of all sizes and shapes. They are formed in the Arctic and Antarctic and, once detached, follow the currents (ocean) until they melt and disappear.
• Iceberg melt is responsible for about half the freshwater entering the ocean from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.
• However, current models wrongly assume icebergs melt uniformly.
• Thus, accurately modeling how it enters is important for understanding the potential impact on ocean circulation.

Understanding the geography of Icebergs

• Icebergs are pieces of ice that formed on land and float in an ocean or lake.
• Icebergs come in all shapes and sizes, from ice-cube-sized chunks to ice islands the size of a small country.
• The term "iceberg" refers to chunks of ice larger than 5 meters (16 feet) across.
• Smaller icebergs are known as bergy bitsand growlers. They can be especially dangerous for ships because they are harder to spot.
• The North Atlantic and the cold waters surrounding Antarctica are home to most of the icebergs on Earth.

Difference between icebergs, glaciers, and other ice trivia

• Glaciers and icebergs represent two of the most important facets of Earth's ecosystem. 
• The glaciers, icebergs, ice sheets, and permanent areas of snow in the polar regions (the Arctic and Antarctica) comprise 1.7% of the total water on the planet.
• Glaciers are large sheets of ice that can extend for miles.
• Larger glaciers are referred to as continental glaciers, which start at a central point and spread out as they accumulate more ice and other debris like dirt and rock.
• Glaciers are located in the Arctic and Antarctica, with the largest glaciers appearing in Antarctica.
• Icebergs, on the other hand, are smaller pieces of ice that have broken off (or calved) from glaciers and now drift with the ocean currents.
• Only the larger continental glaciers create icebergs, as it typically does not happen that a mountain glacier releases an iceberg into the sea.

How do they form? Where do they go?

• Icebergs calve from glaciers when direct sunlight or rising air temperature causes the glacier's surface ice to become more brittle.
• Once an iceberg has calved off a glacier it is already floating and, by the principle known since Archimedes, raises the oceans' volume.  

Archimedes’ principle and melting of sea ice and ocean water level

• Archimedes' principle is used to understand why there's no change in water level when the ice that is floating in the water melts.
• The principle states that a body immersed in a fluid is subjected to an upwards force equal to the weight of the displaced fluid.
• For example, a ship that is launched sinks into the ocean until the weight of the water it displaces is just equal to its own weight. As the ship is loaded, it sinks deeper, displacing more water, and so the magnitude of the buoyant force continuously matches the weight of the ship and its cargo.

The applications of Archimedes' principle are

• Archimedes' principle is used in designing ships and submarines
• Lactometers based on Archimedes' principle is used to measure the purity of a sample of milk.

What were the assumptions made in the current model?

• Current models, which are incorporated into the methodology used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, assume that icebergs melt uniformly in ocean currents.
• The IPCC is the gold standard for climate science.
• However, this recent research has shown that icebergs do not melt uniformly and melt at different speeds depending on their shape.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess climate change based on the latest science.

What is the proposed method?

• The results, published in Physical Review Fluids, have implications for oceanographers and climate scientists.
• The new research proposes a very simple model that accounts for iceberg shape, as a prototype for an improved model of iceberg melting.
• To test these models, the researchers developed the first realistic small-scale simulations of melting ice in saltwater.
• The old models assumed that stationary icebergs didn't melt at all, whereas the latest experiments show melting of about a millimeter every minute.
• In icebergs moving in oceans, the melting on the base can be up to 30 percent faster than in old models.
• The research shows that iceberg shape is important. Given that the sides melt faster, wide icebergs melt more slowly but smaller, narrower icebergs melt faster.
• The sides of icebergs melt about twice as fast as their base.
• For icebergs that are moving in the ocean, melting at the front can be three or four times faster than what the old models predicted.

Road Ahead

• While icebergs are only one part of the global climate system, the improved model provides scientists with a dial that they can tune to better capture the reality of Earth's changing climate.
• These methods can also be applied to many other systems, including glaciers melting or the melting of frozen, saline sea ice. Moreover, these methods could be used by astrobiologists to better understand ice moons like Saturn's Enceladus, a candidate for finding life elsewhere in the Solar System.

Context: It has been reported that an old project to facilitate the movement of Hilsa upstream along the Ganga to its spawning grounds of yore may come to fruition this year.

Background

• In February 2019, the government had unveiled a project to redesign the navigation lock at the Farakka Barrage at a cost of Rs 360 crore to create a “fish pass” for the hilsa.
• Once the construction of Farakka's new 'navigational lock' is completed, a lot of hilsa will be available in the river Ganges. 
• Such is the claim of L&T Geostructure under Larsen & Toubro Limited, which is responsible for making the lock. The company has said that this initiative is mainly for the smooth travel of the ship.

Key Points

• Before the formation of the Farakka barrage in the 1970's, there was a hitherto hilsha from Bangladesh to Allahabad. But after the construction of the dam it closed due to the navigation lock. So Hilsa can not go to India.
• After nearly 40 years, the country has created a new navigation lock design. The implementation of this design will end if the hilsa drought in India.
• India's internal river authorities hope, at this time, the eggs-breeding hilsa will be reached by the Farakka dam, in Elahabad or in Prayagraj of India.
• In the breeding season of Hilsa, eight meters of the gate will keep opened from 1am to 5am in the morning so that the hilsa can enter India.
• According to fish scientists, this time, the hilsa went against the torrent. However, no vessels will be able to navigate during this time; because it requires 25 meters wide space.
• According to an official of the company, once this navigational lock is made, the supply of hilsa will increase from Farakka to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Hilsa fish from Bangladesh will flow upstream of the Ganges towards India.
• Fish passes to be built at Farakka also known as fish ladders or fish ways aim to assist fish in crossing obstacles presented by dams and barrages.

Hilsa fish migration

• In scientific parlance, the hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is an anadromous fish. That is, it lives most of its life in the ocean, but during the rainy season, when it is time to spawn, the hilsa moves towards the estuary, where the rivers of India and Bangladesh meet the Bay of Bengal.
• A large part of the shoal travels upstream in the Padma and the Ganga some are known to move towards the Godavari, and there are records of hilsa migration to the Cauvery.

What affected the fish movement?

• Historical records also show that until the 1970s, the hilsa would swim the Ganga upstream to Allahabad and even to Agra.
• But the Farakka Barrage, which became operational on the Ganga in 1975, disrupted the westward movement of the hilsa.
• The barrage had a navigation lock that stopped the fish from swimming upstream beyond Farakka.

What are fish ladders?

• They usually consist of small steps that allow the fish to climb over the obstacles and enable them to reach the open waters on the other side.
• For the intervention to work, the water running over these ladders must be controlled. It must be adequate to catch the attention of the fish, but not too strong to deter them from swimming against it.

Context: In a major boost to India's rice exports, a consignment has been shipped from the Kakinada deep-water port in Andhra Pradesh.

Background

• The Andhra Pradesh government had granted approval for the use of Kakinada deep-water port for rice exports as the adjourning anchorage port was facing congestion problems as demand for rice from India has seen a sharp spike in the current financial year (2020-21).

About Kakinada Port

• Kakinada Port is located at Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) off the east coast of India.
• It is 170 km south of Visakhapatnam Port.
• Kakinada Port is a large complex comprising Kakinada Anchorage Port, Kakinada Deep Water Port, Kakinada Fishing Harbour and Ship-Breaking Unit.
• Kakinada Anchorage Port has a century-long tradition.
• Kakinada forms the main gateway port for the rich agricultural belt of East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna Districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Kakinada Deep Water Port is an all-weather port with a channel depth of 12 meters.

Context: Recently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and MapmyIndia have partnered to come up with an indigenious geospatial portal known as ‘Bhuvan’.
About 

• It is a collaboration between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and digital mapping and navigation technology solutions provider MapmyIndia.
• It is an attempt to compete with Google Maps and launch an indigenous mapping portal and geospatial service. 
• The geospatial portals will be called 'Bhuvan', 'VEDAS' and 'MOSDAC'.

1. Bhuvan: National geo-portal developed and hosted by ISRO comprising geospatial data, services, and tools for analysis.
2. VEDAS (Visualisation of Earth observation Data and Archival System): Online geoprocessing platform that uses optical, microwave, thermal, and hyperspectral EO data covering applications particularly meant for academia, research and problem solving.
3. MOSDAC (Meteorological and Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre): It is a data repository for all the meteorological missions of ISRO and deals with weather-related information, oceanography and tropical water cycles.

Significance

With ISRO, MapmyIndia’s end-user maps, apps and services will now integrate with ISRO’s huge catalogue of satellite imagery and earth observation data.

• It will promote 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' as Indian users would not be dependent on foreign organizations for maps, navigation, and geospatial services, and instead they can leverage made-in-India solutions. 
• It will enable to jointly identify and build a holistic geospatial portal utilising earth observation dataset, 'NavIC', Web Services and APIs (application programming interface) available in MapmyIndia.
• Foreign mapping solutions come with a lot of hidden costs. They make money by targeting the same users with advertising based on invading user privacy and auctioning those user’s private location and movement data.
• MapmyIndia does not have an advertising business model and has an ethical point of view against advertising led business models of such companies. By using its maps users can better protect their privacy.

Navigation in Indian Constellation (NavIC)

• The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NavIC, is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system.
• NavIC was developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

IRNSS consists of eight satellites

• Three satellites in geostationary orbit
• Five satellites in geosynchronous orbit
• The main objective is to provide reliable position, navigation and timing services over India and its neighborhood.
• It works just like the established and popular U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) but within a 1,500-km radius over the sub-continent.

Context: The country's first full-fledged international cruise terminal, Sagarika at Cochin Port is inaugurated.

About Sagarika cruise terminal

• The Facility has been inaugurated at Ernakulam wharf in Willingdon Island.
• Major Port:The Cochin Port Trust has catered to the requirements of major cruise operators in the industry and port sources.

Key Features

• It will cater to one lakh international cruise guests annually.
• The construction cost of 25.72 Crore.

Benefits

• Facilities at port: A dedicated terminal will provide all statutory clearances, including Customs and Immigration, for cruise passengers.
• Passenger friendly amenities: Other amenities included walk-in-berthing, assured quality bunkers, and freshwater services.
• Speeding up clearance process: It will bring under one roof personnel of Customs, Bureau of Immigration, and CISF.
• Promotion of local culture: Its commissioning will see the revamping of the wharf, an area to stage traditional art forms, and the availability of ATMsand food kiosks on the premises.
• Boost in tourism and revenue generation: It will help in tourism promotion and revenue generation for the economy.

Employment opportunities: Cruise terminal operation will generate direct and indirect employment.

Other Project unveiled by PM

• Inauguration of the Marine Engineering Training Institute of Cochin Shipyard Ltd. will help those wanting to study marine engineering.
• South Coal Berth would bring down logistics costs and improve cargo capacities.
• Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP) will help strengthen India’s journey towards being Aatmanirbhar as it will save foreign exchange.
• With Ro-Ro Vessels, a distance of almost 30 km on road will become 3.5 km through waterways leading to less congestion and more convenience, commerce and capacity-building.

Context: Recently, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister of India has approved signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius.

The salient features of India-Mauritius CECPA

• An institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries.
• A limited agreement which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other Areas.
• An Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism (ATSM) for a limited number of highly sensitive products within two years of the Signing of the Agreement.

Benefits of the Agreement

• CECPA provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries.
• It covers more than 310 export items for India.
• Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its 615 products.
• In services, Indian service providers will have access to around 115 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors such as professional services, computer related services, research & development, other business services, telecommunication, construction, distribution, education, environmental, financial, tourism & travel related, recreational, yoga, audio-visual services, and transport services.

India-Mauritius relations
Background

• India and Mauritius enjoy excellent bilateral relations, sustained by  - historic cultural affinities, frequent high-level political interactions, development cooperation, defence and maritime partnership, and people to people linkages.
• Since 2005, India has been among the largest trading partners of Mauritius, and has been one of the largest exporters of goods and services to Mauritius. 

According to the International Trade Centre (ITC), in 2019

• The main import partners of Mauritius were India (13.85%), China (16.69%), South Africa (8.07%), and UAE (7.28%). 
• The bilateral trade between India and Mauritius has registered a growth of 233% to USD 690.02 million in FY 2019-20. 

Mauritius - an important development partner of India

• India had extended a Special Economic Package of USD 353 million to Mauritius in 2016. 
• The new Supreme Court building project is one of the five projects being implemented under this package and was inaugurated in 2020. 
• In 2019, the Phase-I of the Metro Express Project and the 100-bed state of the art ENT hospital project in Mauritius, also built under the special economic package.
• The India-Mauritius CECPA will further cement the already deep and special relations between the two countries.

Significance of Mauritius to India

Geo-strategic significance

• In 2015, the Indian Prime Minister signed an agreement to set up eight Indian-controlled coastal surveillance radar stations
• Mauritius is part of India’s security grid including Coastal Surveillance Radar (CSR) station of Indian Navy’s National Command Control Communication Intelligence network
• if Delhi takes an integrated view of its security cooperation in the southwestern Indian Ocean, Mauritius is the natural node for it.

Geo-economic significance

• India is Mauritius’s largest trading partner and has been the largest exporter of goods and services to the Indian Ocean island nation since 2007.
• The French description of the island as a “central geographic point” holds equally true for commerce and connectivity in the Indian Ocean.
• As a member of the African Union, Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Indian Ocean Commission, Mauritius is a stepping stone to multiple geographies.
• If Delhi appreciates the value of Mauritius as a regional hub, a number of possibilities present themselves. One, as new investments pour into Africa, Mauritius is where a lot of it gets serviced. Mauritius can be the fulcrum for India’s own African economic outreach.

Mauritius as pivot of Delhi’s island policy

• until now India has tended to deal with the so-called Vanilla islands of the southwestern Indian Ocean — Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion and Seychelles — on a bilateral basis.
• If the Indian establishment thinks of them as a collective, it could make Mauritius the pivot of Delhi’s island policy.

Economic opportunities

• the Mauritius pivot can facilitate a number of Indian commercial activities in the southwestern Indian ocean — as a banking gateway, the hub for flights to and from Indian cities and tourism.
• India could also contribute to the evolution of Mauritius as a regional centre for technological innovation.

Common challenges

• climate change, sustainable development and the blue economy are existential challenges for Mauritius and the neighbouring island states.
• Mauritius will be the right partner in promoting Indian initiatives in these areas.
• It could also become a valuable place for regional and international maritime scientific research.

Context: Recently, India joined Australia, Japan and the United States for a ministerial meeting under the Quadrilateral grouping (Quad) and discussed issues across Indo-Pacific and the military takeover in Myanmar.
Key Points

• India joined Australia, Japan and the United States for a ministerial meeting under the quadrilateral grouping during which key issues, including Myanmar, came up for discussion. 
• External Affairs Minister and U.S. Secretary of State said the military takeover in Myanmar featured in the talks and participants reiterated democratic values for the region. 
• India also emphasised in its statement that the meeting expressed commitment to “upholding rules-based international order” and “peaceful resolution of disputes”.
• Discussed countering disinformation, counter-terrorism, maritime security, and the “priority of strengthening democratic resilience in the broader region”.
• Emphasised their commitment to upholding a rules-based international order, underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas and peaceful resolution of disputes.
• Reiterated their “common vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, with clear support for ASEAN cohesion and centrality”, and noted that the Indo-Pacific concept had “gathered growing international support, including in Europe”.

Significance

• The meeting, held in the backdrop of the ongoing withdrawal of Chinese forces from positions along the Line of Actual Control, underlines that India’s interest in the Quad is not tactical but profoundly strategic.
• For India, the Quad is also about addressing the growing power imbalance with China that has manifold consequences for India’s security and prosperity as well its regional and international standing.
• It signalled the new USA administration’s commitment to the Quad as a key formation in the Indo-Pacific.
• The momentum behind the Quad picked up in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, China’s growing assertiveness, and deterioration of China’s bilateral relations with all Quad partners.
• Chinese officials have likened the Quad to a “mini NATO” and said its activities are aimed at targeting third parties, a charge rejected by the four members of the group.
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) is a political and military alliance whose primary goals are the collective defence of its members and the maintenance of a democratic peace in the North Atlantic area.

Quad & India 

• The quadrilateral security dialogue includes Japan, India, United States and Australia. 
• All four nations find a common ground of being the democratic nations and common interests of unhindered maritime trade and security. 
• The idea was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. 
• However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with Australia pulling out of it. 

Significance of the grouping 

• Quad is an opportunity for like-minded countries to share notes and collaborate on projects of mutual interest. 
• Members share a vision of an open and free Indo-Pacific. Each is involved in development and economic projects as well as in promoting maritime domain awareness and maritime security. 
• It is one of the many avenues for interaction among India, Australia, Japan and the US and should not be seen in an exclusive context. 

China’s views on the Quad 

• There is a general understanding that the Quad would not take on a military dimension against any country. The strategic community in China, nevertheless, had branded it an emerging “Asian NATO”. 
• Notably, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s “Confluence of Two Seas” address to the Indian Parliament gave a fresh impetus to the Quad concept. This recognised the economic rise of India.

Context: In a latest development, the Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Key-highlights of the Amendments

• Aim: The Amendment aims to introduce measures for strengthening the Child Protection set-up to ensure the best interest of children.
• Authorization to DM: The amendment authorizes District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act. Appeals can be done at the divisional commissioner level
• Adoption powers to Magistrates: Children accused of offences where the maximum sentence is more than seven years but in which no minimum sentence is prescribed will no longer be tried in adult courts. From now on, district magistrates, as well as the additional district magistrates, will be allowed to issue adoption orders.

This has been done to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability.

• Eligibility criteria set up: Defining eligibility parameters for the appointment of CWC members.
• Categorization of serious offence: Categorization of previously undefined offences as ‘serious offence’. The amendments also state that crimes committed by children, in which the minimum sentence is less than seven years, will be categorised as “serious” and not “heinous” offences. 
• Special care: Children who have suffered trafficking, drug abuse or have been rescued or children abandoned by their guardians too will come under child in need of protection or CARE.
• Child welfare committees (CWC): Currently, there is no specific direction to carry out a background check of people who are to become members of the child welfare committees (CWC).

Earlier any organisation which wanted to run a child care institution would need to give its purpose to the state government.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 

• The JJ Act, 2015 replaced the Indian juvenile delinquency law, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
• It allows for juveniles in conflict with Law in the age group of 16–18, involved in Heinous Offences, to be tried as adults.
• The Act also sought to create a universally accessible adoption law for India.
• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has been given the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
• The bill allows a Juvenile Justice Board, which would include psychologists and social workers.
• The bill introduced concepts from the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption, 1993 which were missing in the previous act.
• The bill introduces foster care in India.

Who are considered Juvenile?

• As per the prevailing law, a child below 18 years has to be treated as a juvenile/child for all purposes.
• Exception: If a child has committed a ‘heinous offence’, the child (if between the age of 16-18 years), can be tried as an adult and taken out of the protective umbrella of the juvenile justice system.

Context: Recently, Lower house of Parliament passed Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to check misuse by “fly-by-night operators” who take advantage of the law to get favourable awards by fraud.
Key Provision

• The Bill aims to make India a hub for domestic & International arbitration.
• It contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration and defines the law for conducting conciliation proceedings.
• As per the proposed amendment, if the award is being given on the basis of an agreement based on fraud or corruption, then the court will not impose a condition to stay the award and grant an unconditional stay during the pendency of the appeal, if it has been challenged under Section 34 of the arbitration law.

Benefits

• Would bring about parity among all the stakeholders in the arbitration process.
• All the stakeholders get an opportunity to seek unconditional stay on enforcement of arbitral awards where the agreement or contract is “induced by fraud or corruption”.
• Checking misuse of the provisions under Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 would save the taxpayers money by holding those accountable who siphoned off of them unlawfully.

Drawbacks

• India already lags behind when it comes to the enforcement of international contracts and agreements. The Bill can further hamper the spirit of Make in India campaign and deteriorate rankings in Ease of Doing Business Index.
• India aims to become a hub of domestic and international arbitration. Through the implementation of these legislative changes, resolution of commercial disputes could take longer duration now onwards.

What is Arbitration?

• Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to resolve disputes outside the courts.
• The dispute is decided by one or more persons (arbitrators), who render the 'arbitration award'.
• An arbitration award is legally binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts.

Context: The Karnataka Government recently notified that, the Vijayanagara has become the 31st district of Karnataka officially.  The district has its headquarter at Hosapete.

About the new district

• Named after the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, the new district was carved out from Ballari under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
• Vijayanagara, located in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, is famous for its UNESCO World Heritage sites – Hampi and Virupaksha Temple.
• The austere and grandiose site of Hampi comprise mainly the remnants of the Capital City of Vijayanagara Empire (14th-16th Cent CE), the last great Hindu Kingdom. 
• The property encompasses an area of 4187, 24 hectares, located in the Tungabhadra basin in Central Karnataka, Bellary District.

Reasons behind creating new district

• The govt. stated that it was necessary to create a new district citing administrative reasons, and added that some parts of the Ballari district were about 200km from the present headquarters.
• Carving out a separate district will help promote tourism to places such as Hampi, near Hosapete, and overall development of the six taluks, as Ballari district is spread over a large region.
• The move is widely seen as an attempt to wrest control of the minerals-rich region.

Criticism

• The plan of creating the new district was highly criticised and faced opposition from the ruling party. 
• Further, the move was criticised because of the view that division of the Ballari district to create a new district could lead to a linguistic dispute in between Telugu speaking people and Kannada speaking people with in the district.

About Vijaynagar Empire

• Vijayanagara or “city of victory” was the name of both a city and an empire.
• The empire was founded in the fourteenth century (1336 AD) by Harihara and Bukka of Sangama dynasty.
• They made Hampi as the capital city. In 1986, Hampi was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
• It stretched from the river Krishna in the north to the extreme south of the peninsula.

Vijayanagar Empire was ruled by four important dynasties and they are:

1. Sangama
2. Saluva
3. Tuluva
4. Aravidu

Krishnadevaraya (ruled 1509-29) of the Tuluva dynasty was the most famous ruler of Vijayanagar. His rule was characterised by expansion and consolidation.

• He is credited with building some fine temples and adding impressive gopurams to many important south Indian temples. He also founded a suburban township near Vijayanagar called Nagalapuram after his mother.
• He composed a work on statecraft in Telugu known as the Amuktamalyada.

Hampi or Hampe

• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is located in east-central Karnataka. The site is a pilgrimage centre of the Hindu religion. 
• The Hampi region used to be the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in 14th century. Hampi-Vijayanagara was the second-largest medieval-era city of the world following Beijing.

Context: The government in the Union Territory of Puducherry appeared to have lost majority with ruling party legislator resigning.
Issue

• Kiran Bedi was removed as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Telangana Governor has been given additional charge of the Union Territory until regular arrangements are made.
• Also, the Congress government has slipped into minority after the resignation of two MLAs in the last two days. 
• Known for her regular confrontation with the elected government, there were demands to the President earlier to recall the LG.

Appointment of Lieutenant Governor

• The Lt. Governor is appointed by the President for a term of five years.
• The Governors of the states and territories of India have similar powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at Union level.
• Only Indian citizens above 35 years of age are eligible for appointment.

Powers of the Governor

• Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals.
• Legislative powers related to law-making and the state legislature.
• Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.

Powers of Lt. Governor

• The powers a Lt. Governor has in the state they administer is equivalent to that of the President.
• They can appoint Chief Ministers, Ministers, the State Election Commissioner and judges of the District Courts.
• They also serve as Chancellors of all the universities in the state.
• The Lt. Governor can also dissolve the state Assembly if they see the need, and if the Assembly is not in session, they can promulgate ordinances.
• Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission, the Governor can also disqualify a legislator.
• To rule the state in case the ruling party loses its majority in the Assembly.

Difference between LG of Delhi and Puducherry

• the differences between the powers conferred on the legislatures of Puducherry and Delhi under Articles 239A and 239AA of the Constitution.
• Article 239AA imposes several restrictions on the legislature of Delhi, no such restrictions had been imposed explicitly in the case of Puducherry under Article 239A.
• The LG of Delhi enjoys greater powers than the LG of Puducherry.
• The LG of Delhi has “Executive Functions” that allow him to exercise his powers in matters connected to public order, police and land “in consultation with the Chief Minister.
• While the LG of Delhi is also guided by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Transaction of Business of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Rules, 1993;
• The LG of Puducherry is guided mostly by the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963.
• Delhi Assembly has the power to legislate on all subjects except law and order and land.
• The Puducherry Assembly can legislate on any issue under the Concurrent and State Lists.
• If the law is in conflict with a law passed by Parliament, the law passed by Parliament prevails.

Context: PM visited the Jerenga Pothar and the historic “martyr” town of Dhekiajuli, associated with the Quit India Movement of 1942.

Jerenga Pothar

• Jerenga Pothar, an open field in Sivasagar town, is popularly connected to the valour of 17th century Ahom princess Joymoti.
• Formerly known as Rangpur, Sivasagar was the seat of the powerful Ahom dynasty, who ruled Assam for six centuries (1228-1826).
• Chaolumg Sukapha founded the Ahom kingdom.

What is Dhekiajuli’s connection to the Quit India movement?

• Dhekiajuli was home to the youngest martyr of the Indian freedom struggle.
• On September 20, 1942, as part of the Quit India movement, processions of freedom fighters marched to various police stations across several towns in Assam.
• These squads, were known as ‘Mrityu Bahini’, or death squads.
• It had wide participation of women and children, set out to unfurl the tricolour atop police stations, seen as symbols of colonial power.
• The British administration came down heavily on them.
• A 17-year-old Kanaklata Barua and others fell to bullets.
• And in Dhekiajuli, at least 15 people were shot dead, three of them women, including the 12-year-old Tileswari Barua.

Significance of the Dhekiajuli event

• Patriotic fervour was at its peak and a lot of women were coming to the fore and visibly participating in the movement.
• They were not just picketing but leading ‘death squads’, presiding over meetings.
• Before the Assam Agitation (1979-85), it was only the Quit India Movement that saw mass participation of women.
• A number of children too, joined the freedom struggle.

Soti Joymoti

• Soti Joymoti, also known as Joymoti Konwari, is a celebrated princess for the native Assamese, who honour her courage and endurance.
• The state of Assam, then under the Ahom rulers was undergoing a defeating period between the years of 1671 to 1681.
• It was King Gadapani, who came into power and reclaimed the region of lower Assam and Guwahati from the hands of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb.
• But his ascent to the throne would not have been possible without the selfless surrender of his wife, Joymoti.
• The Prime Minister had ordered for all the princes of the Ahom dynasty to be mutilated; a period known as the Purge of the Princes of 1679 to 1681.
• The aim was to keep his king on the throne, and so would his power over the ruling of the state.
• In a situation like this, all the princes of were fleeing for their lives.
• Prince Gadapanis’s escape caused a huge ruckus in the court and troops were sent to trace him.
• When the king’s men failed to find Gadapani’s whereabouts, his wife, Joymoti was called upon.
• She was tortured for a period of fourteen days, ultimately dying at the hands of Lora Raja’s men.
• The tremendous sacrifice of Joymoti for her state brought about a ‘renaissance’ in the history of Assam.

Context: Indian Naval Ship (INS) Pralaya arrived at Abu Dhabi, UAE to participate in the NAVDEX 21 (Naval Defence Exhibition) and IDEX 21 (International Defence Exhibition), scheduled from 20 to 25 February 2021.

Background

• The defence relations between India and UAE have been steadily growing since the upgradation of bilateral relations to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.
• The inaugural edition of Indian Navy – UAE Navy bilateral exercise GULF STAR - 1 was conducted in March 2018 towards enhancing interactions between the two navies.

About NAVDEX 21

• It provides a dedicated and focused platform for international naval defence and maritime security companies to showcase their technologies and services to an international audience.
• It offers exhibitors the unique opportunity to promote the latest in naval, maritime and coastal security technology, equipment and crafts.

About IDEX 21

• It is the only international defence exhibition and conference in the MENA region demonstrating the latest technology across land, sea and air sectors of defence.
• It is a unique platform to establish and strengthen relationships with government departments, businesses and armed forces throughout the region.
• It takes place biennially at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
• The exhibition takes over 100% of the state-of-the-art exhibition centre, utilising 133,000sqm of event space.

Additional Information

MENA Region: MENA is an acronym for the Middle East and North Africa region and includes approximately 19 countries.

• The MENA region accounts for approximately 6% of the world's population, 60% of the world's oil reserves, and 45% of the world's natural gas reserves.
• Countries are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

INS Pralaya

• It is the second ship of the indigenously built Prabal Class Missile Vessels.
• It is fitted with an impressive array of weapons and sensors.
• It is built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Limited.
• It is a versatile platform capable of performing a wide variety of surface warfare missions.

Context: Recently, India has successfully test-fired indigenously-developed anti-tank guided missile systems ‘Helina’ and ‘Dhruvastra’ in the Pokhran range, Thar desert (Rajasthan).
About Helina and Dhruvastra

• Helina is an Army Version and Dhruvastra is an Air Force Version of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles.
• They have been designed and developed indigenously by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• They are the third generation, Lock on Before Launch (LOBL) fire and forget Anti-Tank Guided Missiles.
• The system has all-weather day and night capability and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as with explosive reactive armour.
• Helina is ready for induction into the armed forces with the infra-red missile striking 100 percent success at test-firing trials
• Helina is comparable with the wire-guided HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 system with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and BARQ laser-guided missile developed by Pakistan.

About Anti Tank Missiles

• Anti-Tank missiles (ATMs) are guided missiles designed primarily to destroy or damage heavily armoured vehicles and tanks. 
• They’re guided missiles that use various guiding algorithms like wire-guided missiles, laser guide guided missiles, etc. 

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Defence has announced that the present radios are to be replaced soon by Software Defined Radio (SDR).
Indian Army is in the process to revamp its communication systems by procuring Very/Ultra High Frequency (V/UHF) Manpack SDRs under Make-II category.

About Software Defined Radio (SDR)

• SDR defines a collection of hardware and software technologies where some or all of the radio’s operating functions are implemented through modifiable software or firmware operating on programmable processing technologies.
• It brings the flexibility, cost efficiency and power to drive communications forward, with wide-reaching benefits realized by service providers and product developers through to end users.

The benefits of SDR are

• Enhanced data transmission capability,
• Enhanced voice clarity and data transmission accuracy in spectrally noisy environments,
• Support multiple waveforms,
• Greater system security and better communication survivability in clear; and
• Secure mode to meet the operational requirements of the Indian Army.

Need for Software Defined Radio (SDR)

• The Combat Net Radio (CNR) is the mainstay of communications for the Indian Army in the battlefield which supports voice communication only.
• The CNR has limited or no data transmission capability.
• It is necessary to equip arm the soldiers with advantages offered by technology and equip him to fight a war in the Net–Centric battle space.

Context: The Pakistan Army is holding a month-long exercise code-named ‘Jidar-ul-Hadeed’ in the Thar Desert. The aim is to prepare for conflict in extreme desert environments.
About the Exercise

• It is the four-week long defensive manoeuvre exercise and is aimed at validating the concept of defence in deserts.
• It is also conducting a multinational naval exercise ‘Aman-2021’ in the Arabian Sea.
• As many as 45 countries, including the U.S., Russia, China and Turkey, will be participating in the exercise.

About Thar Desert

• It also called Great Indian Desert, arid region of rolling sand hills on the Indian subcontinent. 
• It is located partly in Rajasthan state, northwestern India, and partly in Punjab and Sindh (Sind) provinces, eastern Pakistan.
• The Thar Desert covers some 77,000 square miles (200,000 square km) of territory. 

Area

• The Thar Desert is an arid region that covers over 2,00,000 sq km. It forms a natural boundary along the border between India and Pakistan.
• The surface consists of aeolian (wind-deposited) sand that has accumulated over the past 1.8 million years.
• The desert presents an undulating surface, with high and low sand dunes separated by sandy plains and low barren hills, or bhakars, which rise abruptly from the surrounding plains.
• The dunes are in continual motion and take on varying shapes and sizes.
• Barchan, also spelled Barkhan, crescent-shaped sand dune produced by the action of wind predominately from one direction. One of the commonest types of dunes, it occurs in sandy deserts all over the world.
• It is bordered by the irrigated Indus River plain to the west, the Punjab Plain to the north and northeast, the Aravalli Range to the southeast, and the Rann of Kachchh to the south. 
• The subtropical desert climate there results from persistent high pressure and subsidence at that latitude. 
• The prevailing southwest monsoon winds that bring rain to much of the subcontinent in summer tend to bypass the Thar to the east.
• The name Thar is derived from thul, the general term for the region’s sand ridges.

Climate

• The subtropical desert climate there results from persistent high pressure and subsidence at that latitude.
• The prevailing southwest monsoon winds that bring rain to much of the subcontinent in summer tend to bypass the Thar to the east.

Context: Recently, the second phase of Vigyan Jyoti programme commenced on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11th.
Background

• The under-representation of women is a multi-dimensional problem and there is need to see the problems from all angles and give a little push to get the desired result.
• The New Education Policy and the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy could remove the constraints and increase number of women in science.
• The programme had been running successfully in 50 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) since December 2019 and has now been expanded to 50 more JNVs for the year 2021-22.

About Vigyan Jyoti Programme

• It is a new initiative to encourage girls to take interest in science and build career.
• It was launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) to create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls to pursue STEM.
• The programme has been started at school level for meritorious girls of Class IX to Class XII to encourage and empower them to pursue STEM courses.

Significance of Vigyan Jyoti Programme

• The programme addresses the under-representation of women in certain areas of STEM.
• The programme includes student-parent counselling, visit to labs and knowledge centres, partners role model interactions, science camps, academic support classes, resource material distribution and tinkering activities.

Other Government Initiatives to empower women

Women-centric programmes to bring gender parity in Science & Technology (S&T) domain by DST

• Women Scientists Scheme to help women with career-break
• Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (WISTEMM) program where women scientists can work in research labs of USA
• Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE) programme for improving R&D infrastructure and establishing state-of-the-art research facilities in order to create excellence in S&T in women universities
• Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) program in pilot mode. 
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) labs in women universities with the goal to foster AI innovations and to prepare skilled manpower for AI-based jobs in future.

Context: Recently, a border dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh once again resurfaced when Andhra Pradesh announced panchayat polls in three villages of Kotia panchayat in Koraput district of Odisha.
Background
Border Disputes of Odisha

• Odisha was carved out of the Bengal-Bihar-Odisha province on 1st April, 1936, but the inter-state border disputes continue even today.
• Odisha continues to have unresolved border disputes with four neighbouring States in its 8 out of 30 districts.
• 14 of the 30 districts share borders with Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. However, the disputes over Kotia villages in Koraput district bordering Andhra Pradesh is the only major border conflict.

About the Kotia Dispute

• Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are locked in a territorial dispute over Kotia gram panchayat since 1960. Disputes pertain over 21 villages in Kotia gram panchayat.
• Residents of Kotia panchayat receive benefits from both Pottangi block in Koraput and Salur in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. They depend on both the blocks for their day to day activities.
• In the early 1980s, Odisha filed a case in the Supreme Court demanding right and possession of jurisdiction over the 21 villages.
• In 2006, the SC ruled that since disputes belonging to the state boundaries are not within the jurisdiction of the judiciary, the matter can only be resolved by Parliament and passed a permanent injunction on the disputed area.

Water Dispute with Andhra Pradesh

• In 2006, Odisha sent a complaint to the Central Government under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956 regarding its water disputes with Andhra Pradesh pertaining to Inter-State River Vamsadhara.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Communications has decided to set up a Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) as a nodal agency to deal with complaints of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) and cases of financial fraud, especially in the digital payments space.

• Apart from the DIU a Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP) will also be set up at all the 22 license service area levels.
• It would also ensure strict compliance of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preferences Regulations (TCCCPR) 2018 which provides a revised regulatory framework aimed at regulating 'unsolicited commercial communication' (UCC) in India.

Background

• Recently, the Delhi High Court (HC) ordered the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to ensure “complete and strict” implementation of the regulation issued by it in 2018 for curbing Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC).
• Earlier in November, 2020 TRAI had imposed fines of up to Rs 30 crore on telecom companies such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm for not putting enough measures to control UCC, which occurred over their networks between April and June 2020.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had, in its annual report for 2018-19, said frauds related to misuse of credit and debit cards, cloning of identities, and spam amounted to Rs 220 crore in the year. DIU could mitigate this menace.

What is Digital Intelligence Unit?
Objective: To coordinate with various law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and telecom service providers in investigating any fraudulent activity involving telecom resources.
Significance

1. Checking Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC): The issue of UCC has been a major area of concern for the Telecom Ministry as well as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). It has from time to time fined telecom operators for not following its directives on stopping UCC.
2. Effective Redressal of Complaints: Along with DIU, a web and mobile application as well as a SMS-based system shall be developed for effective redressal of complaints.
3. Instilling Trust In the Digital Ecosystem: The DIU system will strengthen the trust of people in the digital ecosystem and will make financial digital transactions primarily through mobile more secure and reliable, which will result in promotion of Digital India.
4. UCC on over-the-top (OTT) Service Providers: TRAI is also about to come up with a consultation paper to deal with UCC on over-the-top (OTT) service providers. The launched systems does not address the issue of UCC on over-the-top (OTT) service providers such as WhatsApp.
5. The Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation, 2018 tightened the norms for all stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem to have facilities for users to complain against unsolicited calls or SMS. However, OTT players have thus far remained untethered from regulations as far as UCC is concerned.

Context: Recently, the National Informatics Centre launched an instant messaging platform called Sandes on the lines of WhatsApp. Like WhatsApp, the new NIC platform can be used for all kinds of communications by anyone with a mobile number or email id.

Background

• Following the nationwide lockdown imposed in March 2020 to contain the spread of Covid-19, the government felt the need to build a platform to ensure secure communication between its employees as they worked from home.
• After security scares, the Ministry of Home Affairs had in April last year issued an advisory to all government employees to avoid using platforms like Zoom for official communication. 
• This was after the Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) had also posted an advisory against Zoom over safety and privacy concerns.
• Government officials have reportedly started using an Indian alternative to WhatsApp, which goes by the name of "Sandes". 
• Back in 2020, the Centre had revealed plans to develop a WhatsApp-like messaging platform. Apparently, the application is ready and is being tested by officials in several ministries.
• The idea for a secure communication network dedicated exclusively to government employees has been in the works for the past four years. The execution of the idea was accelerated during the last year, according to officials.
• The launch of the app is also a part of the government strategy to push for use of India-made software so as to build an ecosystem of indigenously developed products. Open initially only to government officers, it has now been released for the common public as well.

What is different in the new app developed by NIC?

• The instant messaging app, called Sandes, has an interface similar to many other apps currently available in the market. 
• Although there is no option to transfer the chat history between two platforms, the chats on government instant messaging systems or GIMS can be backed up to a users’ email.
• GIMS, like other instant messaging apps in the market, uses a valid mobile number or email id to register the user for the first time. 
• It also offers features such as group making, broadcast message, message forwarding and emojis.
• Further, as an additional safety feature, it allows a user to mark a message as confidential, which, the app’s description says, will allow the recipient to be made aware the message should not be shared with others. 
• The confidential tag, however, does not change the way the message is sent from one user to another.

Drawback

• The limitation, however, is that the app does not allow the user to change their email id or registered phone number. 
• The user will have to re-register as a new user in case they wish to change their registered email id or phone number on the app.

Context: Recently, Ministry of Science and Technology released new guidelines for the Geo-spatial sector in India, which deregulates existing protocol and liberalises the sector to a more competitive field.

About the geo-spatial data

• Geospatial data is data about objects, events, or phenomena that have a location on the surface of the earth. 
• The location may be static in the short-term, like the location of a road, an earthquake event, malnutrition among children, or dynamic like a moving vehicle or pedestrian, the spread of an infectious disease. 
• Geospatial data combines location information, attribute information (the characteristics of the object, event, or phenomena concerned), and often also temporal information or the time at which the location and attributes exist. 
• Geo-spatial data usually involves information of public interest such as roads, localities, rail lines, water bodies, and public amenities. 
• The past decade has seen an increase in the use of geo-spatial data in daily life with various apps such as food delivery apps like Swiggy or Zomato, e-commerce like Amazon or even weather apps.

Present policy on geo-spatial data

• There are strict restrictions on the collection, storage, use, sale, dissemination of geo-spatial data and mapping under the current regime. 
• The policy had not been renewed in decades and has been driven by internal as well as external security concerns. 
• The sector so far is dominated by the Indian government as well as government-run agencies such as the Survey of India.
• Private companies need to navigate a system of permissions from different departments of the government (depending on the kind of data to be created) as well as the defence and Home Ministries, to be able to collect, create or disseminate geo-spatial data. 
• Initially conceptualised as a matter solely concerned with security, geo-spatial data collection was the prerogative of the defence forces and the government. 
• GIS mapping was also rudimentary, with the government investing heavily in it after the Kargil war highlighted the dependence on foreign data and the need for indigenous sources of data.

Need to deregulate geo-spatial data

• Permission: This system of acquiring licenses or permission, and the red tape involved, can take months, delaying projects, especially those that are in mission mode – for both Indian companies as well as government agencies. The deregulation eliminates the requirement of permissions as well as scrutiny, even for security concerns. 
• Monitoring: Indian companies now can self-attest, conforming to government guidelines without actually having to be monitored by a government agency- these guidelines therefore place a great deal of trust in Indian entities.
• Data Collection: There is also a huge lack of data in the country which impedes planning for infrastructure, development and businesses which are data-based. 
• Pan India Mapping: The mapping of the entire country, that too with high accuracy, by the Indian government alone could take decades. The government therefore felt an urgent need to incentivise the geo-spatial sector for Indian companies and increased investment from private players in the sector.
• Globalisation: There has also been a global push for open access to geo-spatial as it affects the lives of ordinary citizens, and the new guidelines has ensured such an open access, with the exception of sensitive defence or security-related data.
• Large amounts of geo-spatial data are also available on global platforms, which makes the regulation of data that is freely available in other countries, untenable.

Impact of this move

• By liberalising the system, the government will ensure more players in the field, competitiveness of Indian companies in the global market, and more accurate data available to both the government to formulate plans and administer, but also for individual Indians. 
• Startups and businesses can now also use this data in setting up their concerns, especially in the sector of e-commerce or geo-spatial based apps – which in turn will increase employment in these sectors. Indian companies will be able to develop indigenous apps, for example an Indian version of google maps. 
• Boost to public-private partnerships: There is also likely to be an increase in public-private partnerships with the opening of this sector with data collection companies working with the Indian government on various sectoral projects. 
• Enhance India Export: The government also expects an increase in investment in the geo-spatial sector by companies, and also an increase in export of data to foreign companies and countries, which in turn will boost the economy.
• Level Playing Field: Provide a level playing field for Indian companies to compete with foreign companies.

Road Ahead

• While for decades, geo-spatial data has been a priority for strategic reasons and for internal and external security concerns, this priority has seen a shift in the past 15 years – geo-spatial data has now become imperative for the government in planning for infrastructure, development, social development, natural calamities as well as the economy, with more and more sectors such as agriculture, environment protection, power, water, transportation, communication, health (tracking of diseases, patients, hospitals etc) relying heavily on this data.

Context: China warned off US warship sailing near contested islands in the South China Sea.

China’s Claim

• China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands.
• However, Taiwan, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the region, believed to hold valuable oil and gas deposits.
• It has alleged that the USA warship broke into China’s Xisha (Paracel) island’s territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government and accused USA for “seriously violating China’s sovereignty” and “harming regional peace.”

USA’s Stand

• The USA has argued that such exercises are in line with international law and help defend the right of passage through the region amid competing claims by China and other governments.
• It is in sync with the USA's continuous efforts to counter China’s assertion in SCS. Recently the USA Navy sent an aircraft carrier group into the South China Sea.

About South China Sea

• The South China Sea is a marginal sea in the Western Pacific Ocean.
• It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China, in the west by the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands.
• It contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars.

Significance of South China Sea

• It is a region of tremendous economic and geostrategic importance.
• One-third of the world's maritime shipping passes through it, carrying over US$3 trillion in trade each year.
• Huge oil and natural gas reserves are believed to lie beneath its seabed.
• It also contains lucrative fisheries, which are crucial for the food security of millions in Southeast Asia.

Territorial Claims

• Several countries have made competing territorial claims over the South China Sea.
• Both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) claim almost the entire body as their own, demarcating their claims within what is known as the nine-dotted line or nine-dash line.
• This line extends for 2,000 kilometers from the Chinese mainland, encompassing over half of the sea.

The claim had no basis in the international law.

• Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand also lay claim to various island groups in the region.

For example

• Vietnam, China, and Taiwan lay claim over waters west of the Spratly Islands.
• Paracel Islands are disputed between Vietnam, China & Taiwan.
• ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has been keen to ensure that the territorial disputes within the South China Sea do not escalate into an armed conflict.

Context: The government ordered twitter to shut down user accounts connected with the farm protests. This order hampers fundamental rights and also reveals a complex relationship between the government and large platforms.
Background

• The growing digitization of Indian society can be seen in the ongoing farmers’ protest. A new hashtag trends on Twitter for and against the farm laws or protests every day.
• Twitter is quite significant in India despite a lower number of users as compared to Facebook or WhatsApp. It is because Twitter is the default social network for political leaders and foreign governments to make statements.
• The government exercised its powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to block user’s accounts critical of the farm bills. 
• Suspended accounts are in large numbers and include a diverse category of users from farm unions, activists, and press publications.

What are the issues in this decision?
The step is against the rights of the users who are not given reasons for the censorship. Secrecy impacts the public’s right to receive information, which is an essential part of the fundamental right to speech and expression.

• First, the public has incomplete information as the actual text of the legal orders was not disclosed. This is an anti-democratic practice that results in unchecked growth of illogical censorship and also leads to a lack of trust. 
• Second, this outcome has been the failure of the Union executive and Supreme Court. Former framed the process for blocking websites in 2009 and included the secrecy provision; the later failed to examine it. 
• For example, the court stated in Shreya Singhal, that a person whose website or account was blocked under section 69A could approach a court. However, accessing legal remedies is difficult when the direction for blocking is secret.
• Third, several state governments are refusing to publish orders on internet shutdowns even after RTI has been filed. 
• Fourth, due to absence of any prior notice, users are not given an opportunity to present their defense. This is conflicting with the principles of natural justice.  This again goes back to the vagueness and the design faults in the process of how directions under Section 69A are issued.

Suggestion

• In Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India, the court was judging the constitutional acceptability of the telecommunications shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir. In its judgment, it gave a direction for pro-active publication of all orders for internet shutdowns by the government. 
• Thus, the directions of blocking should be made public in other cases as well.

Road Ahead

• Twitter refused to comply with directions by citing the policy of proportionality. This unconstitutional law is being applied to its maximum capacity. It is creating a sense of confusing that a government formed under the Constitution may be failing to fulfill its duties when other platforms that trade in our data for profit are more ready.

Context: The Supreme Court in a judgement has said that Inter-caste marriages will possibly reduce caste and community tensions.

Background

• This judgement came on a petition filed by a girl who fled from Bengaluru to Delhi to marry a man who was from a different caste.
• The police officer on a complaint filed by her relatives directed the girl to leave her husband. However, she refused to comply with the statement that they were legally married by her choice.

Key Observations made by the Supreme Court

• The consent of the family or community is not necessary, once the two adult individuals agree to enter into a marriage. Their consent has to be given primacy.
• Educated youngsters are showing the way forward by tying the knot in inter-Caste-marriages. It will reduce caste and community tensions in India. Possibly, this is the way forward where caste and community tensions will reduce.
• The court also emphasized the need for specific guidelines and a training module for the police personnel. It will train them to handle cases of inter-caste marriage.
• The court quoted B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste in which he said, “I am convinced that the real remedy is intermarriage. The fusion of blood can alone create the feeling of being kith and kin, and unless this feeling of kinship, of being kindred, becomes paramount, the separatist feeling — the feeling of being aliens — created by caste will not vanish.”

Dr. Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter-Caste Marriages

The scheme was launched in 2013 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

• Objective: This scheme was launched to extend the financial incentive to the intermarriage couples. It will enable them to settle down in the initial phase of their married life.
• Incentives: Every such couple that involves a Schedule Caste is eligible to get a one-time incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh from the Centre. It is Irrespective of their total annual income.

Context: Recently a report released by Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI), a longitudinal survey to examine aging and retirement among India’s population aged 45 and above.  

Key highlights of the report

• Every 20th Indian family has a history of cancer.
• The difference in survivorship of women in older age groups is higher.
• The most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in India among men is that in oral and cavity.
• Breast cancer is the leading form of commonly diagnosed cancers among women.

Cancer is more prevalent in urban areas compared to rural India.

• This difference more than doubles in case of adults aged 60 and above, with 1.1 per cent cases in urban areas compared to 0.5 per cent in rural.
• Himachal Pradesh showed highest self-reported prevalence of cancer and other malignant tumours in adults aged 45 and above (2.2 per cent).

With 2.9 per cent in case of senior citizens (aged 60 and above).

• Himachal Pradesh was followed by Kerala with 1.8 per cent cases in elderly and 1.6 per cent among all adults.

Geographical disparity

• Tamil Nadu showing least prevalence of diagnosed cancer cases among bigger states with 0.1 per cent found in elderly aged 60 and above.
• Nagaland accounted for the lowest number of diagnosed cancers followed by Bihar with 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

Diagnosis

• More than three-quarters of Indians above the age of 45 who were diagnosed with cancer were undergoing treatment.
• The percentage was higher among senior citizens in urban areas (90 per cent) than those living in rural areas with only 62 per cent seeking treatment after a cancer diagnosis.
• Treatment rent was relatively higher among women and urban residents among older adults as well as elderly.
• The percentage of older adults being treated for cancer was more than 50 per cent in all states and UTs except Assam, with only 25 per cent.
• Meghalaya, Manipur, Jammu Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Delhi reported 100 per cent treatment rate.
• Among the elderly (aged 60 and above), cancer treatment rate was around half across Maharashtra, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam.

Cancer Survival rate

• Cancer is the second- and fourth-leading cause of adult deaths in urban and rural India, respectively.
• Cancer survival rate in India is among the lowest in the world.
• Cancer survival rate for five years in India is lower than that in Europe or North America.
• For example, only 4 per cent patients with liver cancer survive for five years in India compared to 10-20 per cent elsewhere.

About 8.3 per cent of total deaths and 5.1 per cent of the total disability-adjusted life years in India in 2016 were due to cancer, double than those in 1990.

• According to report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020, India’s cancer cases could increase by 12 per cent in the coming five years.

Causes of Cancer

• Mutations that may result from Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication errors.
• Biological or internal factors, such as age, gender, inherited genetic defects and skin type.
• Environmental exposure, for instance to radon and UV radiation, and fine particulate matter.
• Occupational risk factors, including carcinogens such as many chemicals, radioactive materials and asbestos.
• Lifestyle-related factors, such as Tobacco & Alcohol.
• Aging is among the main risk factors for carcinogenesis in human beings.

Context: The origin of bonded labour can be traced back to ancient times whereby, the Hindu society was divided into caste structures.
What is Bonded Labour?

• Bonded labour, also known as debt bondage and peonage, happens when people give themselves into slavery as security against a loan or when they inherit a debt from a relative.
• It can be made to look like an employment agreement but one where the worker starts with a debt to repay – usually in brutal conditions – only to find that repayment of the loan is impossible. Then, their enslavement becomes permanent.
• Bonded labor is used across a variety of industries in order to produce products for consumption around the world.

Bonded Labour in India

• The lower caste strata did not have sufficient means for their own sustenance due to which they often depended on higher castes for their own survival.
• Due to extreme scarcity of resources on the part of debtor, he has nothing to offer as security.
• Thus, the creditor and debtor enter into an agreement where the debtor pledge his person and work in lieu of unsatisfied debt.

Constitutional Provisions against Bonded Labour

• Article 21: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
• Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.
• Article 24: No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
• Article 39: The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid.

Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976
Objective: To provide for the abolition of bonded labour system with a view to preventing the economic and physical exploitation of the weaker sections of the people.

• The aggrieved person or any person on his behalf can approach to the District Magistrate who is chairman of the Vigilance Committee constitute under the Act.
• A rehabilitation grant of Rs. 20,000/- to each of the bonded labour is granted and assistance for his rehabilitation is provided.

Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour:
Financial assistance is provided for rehabilitation of a rescued bonded labourer at the rate of:

• Rs. 1 lakh for adult male beneficiary.
• Rs. 2 lakhs for special category beneficiaries such as children including orphans or those rescued from organized & forced begging rings, and women.
• Rs. 3 lakhs in cases of bonded or forced labour involving extreme cases of deprivation or marginalization such as trans-genders, or women or children rescued from ostensible sexual exploitation.

The financial assistance for rehabilitation is 100% funded by the Central Government.

• The Scheme provides for creation of a Bonded Labour Rehabilitation Fund at District level with a permanent corpus of at least Rs. 10 lakhs at the disposal of the District Magistrate.

Global Slavery Index

• The Global Slavery Index is a global study of modern slavery published by the Minderoo Foundation’s Walk Free initiative.
• Four editions have been published: in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
• The 2018 edition builds on the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, which estimated that 40.3 million people were in some form of slavery.
• As per the 2018 report, 8 million people live in ‘modern slavery’ in India.